Batman villain info: Scarecrow

JONATHAN CRANE AKA SCARECROW

The Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. Created by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, he first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941). His scarecrow costume, lanky appearance and surname were inspired by Ichabod Crane of the horror fable The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Origins
In his first appearance in World's Finest #3 during the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Scarecrow is first introduced as Jonathan Crane, a professor of psychology, who turns to crime after he is fired; an expert in the psychology of fear, he had fired a gun in a classroom full of students to illustrate a point. The only thing revealed about his early life is that, as a child, he had liked to frighten birds. Ostracized by his fellow professors for his appearance and reclusiveness, Crane turned to crime to make himself part of the social elite.
In the Modern Age version comics, Crane's origin story is being expanded: he becomes obsessed with fear and revenge from being bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookish nature. He commits his first murder at the age of 18 by brandishing a gun in his high school parking lot during the senior prom. Dressed in the ghoulish scarecrow costume that would later become his trademark, Crane causes the head bully, Bo Griggs, and his girlfriend, Sherry Squires (who had rejected Crane), to have an automobile accident which paralyzes Griggs and kills Squires. From this, Crane discovers a savage delight in literally frightening people to death.
The 2005 miniseries, Batman/Scarecrow: Year One, expands upon the earlier origin story. The novels explains that Jonathan Crane was born out of wedlock and also suffers terrible abuse from his fanatically religious grandmother. His father took off before he was even born, and his mother did not show any love or affection towards him at all. He developed a taste for fear and an affinity for crows when his grandmother locked him in a dilapidated church full of birds. Later Crane kills his grandmother, and runs away from home, not before finding out that his mother had bore him a younger sister.

Analysis of Criminal Insanity
The Scarecrow is a mentally unstable former psychologist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to use the fears and phobias of his adversaries. He does not commit his crimes for wealth, but rather as a form of "research" to further study the effects of fear on humans, making the innocent citizens of Gotham his unwilling guinea pigs. His modus operandi is to use his Scarecrow persona and threaten his victims into doing whatever he wants. In terms of his costume, he merely wore ragged black hat, trenchcoat, mask, and sometimes wielded a Tommy gun; in other occasions, he would carry a long sickle staff for close-range combat.
http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Scarecrow

Film Portrayal
Cillian Murphy portrays the live version of Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in the 2005 film "Batman Begins". The Scarecrow appears much like his comic counterpart, this version of the Scarecrow is a corrupt, sadistic psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology at Arkham, secretly allied with Ra's al Ghul and Carmine Falcone, smuggling the former's hallucinogenic drugs into Gotham to create fear gas to use upon his patients in cruel experiments. He first appears in the film as Dr. Jonathan Crane, testifying in court that Victor Zsasz, one of Falcone's assassins, is legally insane and should be moved to Arkham for rehabilitation. This enrages Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes, who later accuses him of being corrupt. Crane then meets with Falcone to discuss having her murdered. When Falcone later attempts to blackmail Crane, Crane dons his Scarecrow mask for the first time in the film and douses Falcone with his fear gas, driving the mob boss insane and leaving him repeatedly uttering "scarecrow". Crane is subsequently arrested by Sergeant James Gordon for intoxicating Rachel with his fear gas, but later escapes in the mass release of Arkham inmates prompted by Ra's Al Ghul as part of his plot to destroy Gotham. As Ra's Al Ghul unleashes Crane's fear gas on Gotham's slums, Crane, now calling himself Scarecrow, pursues Rachel and a boy through an alley on a horse, dragging a dead mounted police officer from its stirrups. To the boy, who was affected with the gas, Scarecrow appeared as a deep-voiced monster riding a fire-breathing horse. Rachel eludes Scarecrow by shocking him in the face with a taser. Scarecrow aimlessly rides off into the night, screaming in pain. In the film's final scene, Gordon reveals to Batman that Crane is still at large.

At the beginning of "The Dark Knight", we see a meeting of armed mobsters over a deal gone wrong, and we realize that one side is actually led by the Scarecrow. The meeting is interrupted by multiple 'Batmen': normal civilians armed with automatic weapons and homemade Batsuits, who want to fight crime as inspired by the real Batman. Batman himself arrives and subdues all the criminals, Batmen, and Scarecrow.

http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Scarecrow_%28Cillian_Murphy%29